We work with purpose-driven founders…
…and burgeoning changemakers on needle-moving sustainability projects.
Meet some of our wonderful clients below.
Meet Alex Head.
FOUNDER | SOCIAL PANTRY
Alex Head is the Founder of Social Pantry, London’s go-to caterer. Alex’s enthusiasm is infectious, and we love how vocal she is in supporting causes she is passionate about.
When Social Pantry approached Bold Green Strategies, they were already a leading prison leaver employer doing many great things in the social space, as their name suggests (Alex is even on the board of Wandsworth Prison). In 2023 the business exceeded its target of having at least 10% of its workforce from its mentoring programmes, and has even set up a cafe run by inmates at HMO/YOI Feltham. Now well-established in this space, Alex Head was looking ahead to the next challenge: sustainability.
Since 2021, we have worked on many impactful projects with the dynamic and enthusiastic Social Pantry team. We’ve created impact campaigns around some important changes in their supply chain: not only have we removed global plastic polluters from their drinks menus and ushered in brands including Cawston Press, and Belvoir Farms to better fit with their fresh, local, seasonal ethos, we partnered Social Pantry up with OLIO as part of the Food Waste Heroes programme as one of our steps in the Zero Food Waste Hierarchy we created for them.
As a business with energy-intensive operations, divesting from fossil fuels is a key aspect of our
strategy for Social Pantry. We’ve achieved this by making an ethical pension fund the default, switching to renewable electricity, adopting EVs and installing a dedicated charging point at HQ. Every new starter is given access to sustainability training and will be given the opportunity to be certified Carbon Literate. We’ve led and maintained B Corp and ISO 14001 certifications, and supported their Living Wage Foundation accreditation.
We love that our work has helped position Social Pantry as a leading voice in sustainable food: we’ve joined panels at Wilderness Festival debating the fascinating implications of “our natural larder”; we brought our expertise to advise on the Unique Venues of London Caterers Roundtable, and Alex appeared on BBC Newsnight commenting on the 2023 EU heatwave and its effects on our supply chain. We’ve also worked together on a wide range of tenders that are increasingly weighting decisions towards sustainability commitments, winning impressive new contracts in the process.
We’re excited to share their forthcoming impact report and Net Zero plans.
Meet Alex Smith.
FOUNDER | PLAIN JANE EVENTS + 34 BLOOMSBURY
Alex Smith is the founder of Plain Jane Events. The team is also behind Georgian Townhouse, 34 Bloomsbury, a London events space that pays homage to Bloomsbury’s historical and influential women.
Sustainability has always been a topic close to Alex’s heart. In 2010, she became a trustee of the Small Steps Project, a charity which has been working tirelessly to tackle the human issues faced by the communities living on landfills around the world. It is her vision that Plain Jane Events isn’t part of the problem, but part of the solution.
Since 2022, we have been helping Plain Jane Events to reimagine events through a sustainable lens; by their nature, events produce excessive waste, much of it single-use. To tackle this, we are supporting Plain Jane Events by actively engaging suppliers in conversations around circularity, sourcing, and ethics. As such, the company has identified its emissions hotspots and is regularly assessing the materials in events that have negative environmental impacts, seeking out alternatives where they exist. Plain Jane Events aspires to be a shining light in events management to show what’s possible if we collectively step out of the “we have always done it this way” mindset.
One of the most rewarding projects we have worked
on together is their submission to Positive Luxury for the Butterfly Mark accreditation. We introduced Plain Jane Events to the Butterfly Mark, as like them, we believe that luxury and sustainability don’t need to be mutually exclusive, and hope to be proof that you can do both well. We’re working towards making sustainability standard at Plain Jane Events, so their clients can rest assured knowing the environmental impact of their events is taken care of so they can go ahead and enjoy themselves.
As for what’s next, we’re working with Plain Jane Events focusing on materials and supply chain, and digging deeper into the high emissions aspects of events such as catering, and décor. We are working with Plain Jane Events’ trusted suppliers to achieve these targets, as well as engaging clients to embrace climate contributions as part of their Jane’s Forest initiative.
We look forward to sharing the company’s first impact report in 2024, where we will be including Net Zero reductions targets, and making key statements around the use of certain materials.